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It's strange to see how well the cartoon-style of Advance Wars can adapt into a living, breathing 3D environment. All of the soldiers and vehicles look exactly how you would expect them to, and move around even better.

The game comes off like a mix between a real-time strategy and Cannon Fodder. When the game begins, you are put in control of one soldier and taught the basics: how to run about, jump, target and fill things with lead. What's great is that if any other developer had left it at that, a game where you control one soldier in a squadron, and kept the style, everyone would have been pleased. However, Kuju had a reputation to uphold and went all-out to replicate the world created on the GBA.

Once the basics are learnt you meet some more of your squadron. With a press of the Z button you can change to whoever is highlighted/targetted and run around as he. So while you have direct control over the soldier, you are more of a commander. Hitting the X button will ensure that your fellow soldiers will either follow your lead or take sentry. Target a machine gun station and hit Y and one of your comrades will jump in and take aim.

Again, any company could've stopped here and had a best-seller on their hands, but this was not enough for Kuju. Here you are slowly introduced to the bazooka squadron, missile launchers and guys sporting flame throwers to name a few. Then you get to jump into the vehicles. Controlled in the same way the Warthog in Halo, light recons will have you flying over hills and bouncing and sliding with the perfect in-game physics.

Sure, these can be taken out by bazooka fire, and that's where the heavy recons and tanks come in handy. Eventually, you will even take over the skies. Since there is always something that can take out whatever you are riding/flying, it is important to have a decent strategy at the ready. With a quick check of the map you can see what kind of foe is around each corner and you can send in the appropriate soldiers, clearing the way for the rest of your squadron.

Controlling a whole army can get a little confusing at first. Using the C-stick you can cycle through the different types of soldier/vehicle group. Upon highlighting a group you can set it to follow or sentry, and by tapping up and down on the C-stick you can select individual units. When there is a lot happening at once it can be quite hard to select which unit you want to control, who you want following, when you want certain ones to stay put - and you'll accidentally find yourself walking off with the team you thought you just told to stay and sentry.

Graphically, this game is a dream. The cartoon style is solid and this is seen in everything from the beautifully pre-rendered cutscenes to the heavily armoured tanks rolling your way. Each soldier type has its own animation that gives each a unique character. The riflemen are unique in the way they tromp across the map in a duck-like manner.

Accompanying the great visuals are even better sounds, with full voice acting for all the cutscenes: it can be fun to hear a little back chatter from your military units when there isn't much else going on. Again, each military type has their own voice and each accentuates the character they have.

While it is sad to see no multiplayer mode, and few too many missions, it is a game that is still hard to put down. Where you might fail once or twice on a mission, once you have your strategy set you should find yourself chomping through the story mission by mission. After each mission is completed you are given a ranking, and this is where the replayability lies. Some missions may frustrate you too much to go back - the learning curve is rather steep - but there are certain missions you WILL replay, just so you can jump that light recon into enemy territory once more.